1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-player gaming machine, and more specifically, to a multi-player gaming machine with which a game is played for playing values and which provides a winning player with playing values the amount of which corresponds to the bet playing values.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Gaming machines that simplify games played in casinos have been prevailing on the market. An example of these gaming machines allows card games such as black jack to be played. Such a gaming machine has hitherto been proposed which comprises a shared display device that displays an image of a dealer who deals cards for players and a plurality of individual display devices (corresponding to satellites or player terminals) that display information images of a card game such as images of cards dealt to players (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-8706; paragraphs [0039] and [0042], FIG. 1). If cards are to be dealt, the dealer image is displayed in the direction in which individual display devices for which card dealing is carried out are installed, that is, the dealer image is displayed so that players who are the operators of the individual display devices sit opposite the dealer image.
With the above game machine, since each player uses one individual display device, the maximum number of players who are allowed to play the game at the same time is limited to the number of individual display devices. With all the individual display devices operated by the players, other players willing to play the game must wait until the players now playing the game end it. The waiting players may thus feel bored until the game is over. The waiting players may also lose their enthusiasm for the game during waiting and leave the gaming machine without playing the game.
To solve this problem, it is possible to increase the number of individual display devices. However, the gaming machine providing a card game or the like limits the number of players playing the game at the same time owing to the following characteristics of the game: the finite number and type of cards used for the game, and the loss of a sense of speed caused by an increase in the amount of time required for each game resulting from the increased number of players. Consequently, the simple increase in the number of individual display devices may deaden the players' interest in the game.
An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-player gaming machine that enables players waiting for players now playing a game to end it, to enjoy the game during waiting.